WORK

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Deciding to go to college and further your education is probably one of the biggest decisions of your life. There are many factors the determine whether you do or not. Like the finances, where you live, your family, etc. But the main factor is yourself. You should do what you want to and not what others want you to. Your parents may "force" you to go to a certain school or get a certain degree, but in the end it's all about you. 

Everyone knows that having a college degree will get you a better, higher paying job. Studies show that people with a bachelor's degree or higher make $17,500 more than high school graduates and $15,500 more than people with a two-year degree (Pew Research Center pp. 452).

There are pros and cons to getting a college degree. The pros include a better job, more career options, more money, and many more. With a degree, you basically have endless job choices because most employers just look to see if you have a degree. The cons of having a degree are student debt, living with parents because of debt, many students can't find a job directly after graduation, etc. Many students exit college in debt, which means the whole time they work they have to pay off their debt. Because of this many students also go back home to live with their parents because they can't afford a house/apartment. Some students can't find jobs after they graduate because they don't have experience. A lot of work places want employees with experience, that is why it's good to have an internship before you graduate so you have your "foot in the door." 

Alan S. Blinder, a professor at Princeton University, states that for a quarter-century, demand for labor has shifted towards college graduates and away from high school graduates and drop-outs. He says that this is the main reason for rising income inequality (pp. 441). Which means that the workplace has turned away from low skilled and uneducated people. Not that you can't get a job without a degree; you just have a better chance at getting a job if you have one.

Having a college degree can impact the economy and workforce. It will get you a higher pay, which means you will be in higher social classes. During downfalls in the economy, many people lose their jobs so they go back to school to have something to do. That leaves more middle and lower class people because they don't have jobs, which means little money. Once they get back into the workforce, they are stuck in the middle and lower classes from paying off student loans. 

The education required for certain jobs is ridiculous. At universities, you are required to take prerequisite courses to the classes that actually deal with your major, which costs extra money. Most of the classes, like electives, have nothing to do with your major, yet you are still required to take them. Technical colleges are a little better. You take the basic classes like psychology and math, and then you start to take classes that pertain to your major. At most technical colleges, you get to do "hands on" activities in your program of study, which is really good for job opportunities. 

Works Cited

Blinder, Alan S. "Will Your Job be Exported?" Eds. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, 13th ed., Pearson, Boston, 2016. pp 441.

Pew Research Center. "Rising Earnings Disparity Between Young Adults with and Without a College Degree." Eds. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, 13th ed., Pearson, Boston, 2016. pp. 452.

STORYTELLING

Official Tangled Trailer

Walt Disney's, Tangled, is a children's fantasy movie. Bryon Howard and Nathan Greno are the directors of the movie and it came out November 24, 2010. Although it being almost seven years old, it still has the qualities of a good beginning according to K. M. Weiland in our textbook.

Tangled is about a princess who lives in a tower and has never been out of that tower her entire life. Until her prince, Flinn Ryder comes along and takes her on the adventure of her lifetime. With enemies chasing them the entire journey, Rapunzel finally gets to see the stars she's been seeing from the top of her tower every year on her birthday.

According to K. M. Weiland, a good beginning has seven traits; they don't open before the beginning, they open with characters, they open with conflict, they open with movement, they establish the setting, they orient readers with an establishing shot, and they set the tone (Weiland pp. 338-339). Tangled pretty much has all of these qualities.

It starts out with some background information, but nothing too overwhelming. It opens with the main characters, Flinn Ryder and Rapunzel, and also shows some of the enemies. While there are more important characters in the movie, you won't see them until you watch it. There's conflict from the beginning when Flinn is being chased by the guards. There's conflict throughout the entire movie but it also opens with conflict, which is a trait of a good beginning. The movie opens with movement in many ways; when Flinn is being chased, when Rapunzel hits Flinn with a frying pan, when they both are on the journey and running away from the guards. There are countless examples of movement in Tangled. The setting isn't clearly established but we can tell that it's in a small town with a king, queen, and princess. Lastly it sets a tone. We know there is going to be a lot of fighting and suspenseful parts. But there is also some not so suspenseful parts.

While there are many movies out there with the right traits to a good beginning, Tangled is just one of them. Once we are hooked at the beginning of a movie, we are hooked the whole way through. That's why it's important to have a good beginning in a movie, TV show, or even a book.


Work Cited

Weiland K. M. "The Hook." Eds. Laurence Behrens, Leonard J. Rose. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, 13th ed., Pearson, Boston. 2016. pp 338-339.

HAPPINESS

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Everyone defines happiness in a different way; whether it's what makes them happy, who makes them happy, how they maintain happiness, etc. We see happiness in different ways also, like people smiling or laughing, people giving and receiving gifts. Psychoanalyst and philosopher Adam Phillips stated, "Anyone who could maintain a state of happiness, given the state of the world, is living in a delusion." In other words, if you can be happy in a world full of crime and hate, you are faking it.

It is definitely hard to maintain happiness in this world today, but it's not impossible. Some people really are genuinely happy everyday of their lives. Personally, I'm not happy every single day but I am most days. That's because the people in my life make me happy and the things I do make me happy. I'm not going to do something that I don't like or that won't make me happy. Sometimes situations come up that I'm not happy with, but they pass and I eventually get over it. Even if someone is having a bad day, all they need to do is smile and it will boost their happiness. It really does work, try it!

Soldiers aren't happy to be off at war, but they are happy when they come home to their spouse, kids, and family. People aren't happy that Donald Trump is our president but they have to live with it everyday so they just ignore it and go on with their lives. Married couples aren't happy in their marriage, so they divorce and are happy again and move on. There are many examples in this world that people are unhappy, but there are always ways to get out of unhappiness and into happiness.

Philosopher Lynne McFall gives us five categories of happiness; the happy idiot, the incompetent bottlecap collector, the deluded fool, the successful immoralist, and the impossible idealist (McFall pp. 528). This list ranges from someone who is happy about absolutely anything, to someone who has unrealistic goals and is happy. No one defines happiness, so as long as you are happy, no matter the situation, only you can define your own happiness.

David Brooks states that, "Recovering from suffering is not like recovering from a disease. Many people don't come out healed; they come out different" (Brooks pp. 568). Meaning that people who have suffered from a situation, like the loss of a loved one, don't come out miserable about life. They come out different; with a different perspective of life, with a different purpose. Which then can make them happy again.

There are many ways to be happy and experience happiness; buying a gift for someone, doing something you love, etc. Everyone should find that happiness inside them and continue to make themselves happy. Don't let anyone define your happiness because no one knows what truly makes you happy, only you do.

RUMORS

Rumors go around every single day and we always hear them whether or not we are aware that we hear them. Recently, a new rumor has been going around that carjackers are putting shirts around victims windshield wipers to lure them. The victim will see the shirt on their windshield, they will get out of their car to remove it, and that's when the carjacker will take their car or kidnap them or do whatever it is they want to do to the victim.

According to snopes.com, this rumor is proved to be false. Ashley Hardacre, a "victim" of this incident reported this happening to her one night when she got off from working the night shift. The City of Flint's police department reported that no other incidents like this have been recorded and that the shirt on Hardacre's windshield was placed there as a joke and had no connection to crime.




This type of rumor can be classified as a bogie rumor. According to Robert Knapp, a bogie rumor is derived from fears and anxieties (Behrens and Roesn pp. 497). I don't know about you, but if this incident was true, I would be scared! This rumor touches on basic anxieties because it makes you think that it might happen to you, so you continue to spread it in hope that it won't happen. It gives you fear that if it does happen, you might get raped or killed. This rumor fits the list of qualities that make a good rumor by Knapp because it heightens some of the elements and exaggerates some.

The rumor encourages DiFonzo's shared human sense-making by making it believable. Some parts of Hardacre's story doesn't match up; like when she says there were cars around her so she was uncomfortable getting out. But couldn't those cars just be the coworkers she walked out with? Everything else in the story seems to make sense and come together well. Most rumors that spread around are very believable with the information that is in the story. Remember, rumors are around us everyday, whether we are aware of them or not.

ETHICS

Tough decisions are all around us and we face them every single day of our lives. Whether it's to decide on what to eat or what college we want to go to. Personally, I am terrible at tough decisions and they stress me out so much (yes even when I'm deciding on what to eat.)

One of my good friends was dating a guy that went to our high school. They had been dating for a few months when she told me she didn't have feelings for him anymore. But she didn't want to break up with him and make him feel sad and heartbroken. I told her that she should talk to him and maybe they could work things out. She told me she talked to him, but a few weeks later, I saw her hanging out with another guy more than she was hanging out with her boyfriend. I confronted her about it and she said "Oh we're just friends." So I let it slide and didn't think too much about it until it started to get worse each day. She would hang out with him in between classes, then she would start to hang out with him outside of school. I was friends with the guy she was dating at the time and thought that I should tell him, but if I told him then I would lose a really good friendship that has lasted for years. One day we were all walking to class together, my friend, the guy she wasn't dating, and me. My friend and I had to go a different direction than the guy, so we said our goodbyes and then she kisses him right in front of me. So I said to her "You have a boyfriend, you shouldn't have done that." And all she said back was, "As long as he doesn't know, it will be okay." After she said that, it made me really upset because I know if the roles were reversed and her boyfriend was cheating on her, she would be very upset if someone knew and didn't tell her. So I didn't mention it for the rest of the day, but it was driving me crazy inside my mind and it was all I could think about. After I got home that day and settled down for a bit, I decided to text her boyfriend about it. I casually started a conversation and asked him how things were going between him and her. He said things were good but he felt like she was being very distant. So then I told him that she had been hanging out with this other guy. He had no idea what she was doing behind his back and confronted her the next day at school. She was very embarrassed and didn't even know what to say to him. Later that day in class, she turned to me and said "Did you tell him?" I replied "Yes I did, because he should know about it instead of you hurting him." They ended up breaking up and I ended up losing a really good friend.

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During this situation, I used the rights approach. I did what was morally right, even though my friend didn't think so. I did follow steps of the ethical decision making process, I recognized the ethical issue, which was my friend cheating on her boyfriend. I got the facts and thought about what would be best. I thought of alternative actions and what would happen if I did one thing over another. Then I made my decision and tested it, even though it resulted in me losing my friendship. I believe that I was operating in stage three of Kholberg's stages of moral development, good interpersonal relationships (Behrens, Rose 285). My friend should have done what was "good." She should have had "good" intentions. That was my way of thinking, so that's how I acted. I think religion had a little influence on my decision because I am religious and in Christianity, cheating is considered a sin. Also, cultural norms had an influence on my decision because it isn't right to cheat on your significant other, whether you're married or not, and everyone will tell you that.

Hello :)

My name is Hailey and I love food and netflix.😊